


sick

by stardustgirl



Series: Rebels Oneshots [22]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: (don’t know if it’s an actual thing but I made it up for this so), (i guess), (not like the thing in TLJ but), (very very very sick), AU of an AU, Accidental Force Projection, Angst, Corellian Fever, Hurt Ezra Bridger, Hurt/Comfort, Imperial AU, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kallus as a Father Figure, Medium angst?, Not a lot of angst, Sick Ezra Bridger, Space Dad!Kallus, Whumptober, Whumptober 2018, but like, force projection, returns again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 19:01:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16310891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: He approached the bed, watching as the boy shivered feverishly.  A sudden thought struck him.  How long had the kid been without his parents now?  Two cycles at least, maybe two-and-a-half?  He winced in sympathy.|~~~|When Ezra suffers from a life-threatening fever, Kallus realizes just how “underfunded” the ICS is.





	sick

**Author's Note:**

> For the “fever,” “bedridden,” and “severe illness” prompts for Whumptober (even though I’ve already done the fever one oops).
> 
> TW: Referenced Child Abuse

Kallus stood over the boy, arms folded as he watched the child shiver. Ezra’s body was wracked with convulsions as he turned, rolling over on the bed and groaning as the cuff on his wrist pulled his arm back. He rolled over again, mumbling something incoherent.

“Did you need something, agent?”

Kallus’s attention was finally pulled away from the boy as he turned to see Ferell entering the room, casting a brief sneer at Ezra before turning to the ISB agent. Kallus hesitated before nodding.

“Yes, actually. I was just curious as to why it doesn’t appear that this child is receiving medical attention, aside from being in the med bay.”

He thought he saw Ferell’s eyes narrow fractionally, but the man cleared his throat and the expression was gone moments later. “It’s believed he’s suffering from Corellian fever, based off the symptoms he’s showing. He’s unlikely to survive. Wasting medical supplies would be a useless endeavor.” _Especially when he runs from every foster we send him to,_ Kallus added silently. Not that he blamed him. If he added up the kid’s sudden quiet that had developed over the past couple months—while he had been with a single foster, the longest he’d lasted before—and the bruises that he’d glimpsed shortly before Ferell entered, when the kid had been rolling around and his shirt came up slightly, then it was likely that the kid had run to protect himself.

“So you’re saying we should let him die?”

His tone was low, not threatening per se, but not approving either. Though Ferell might outrank him here, Kallus was essentially a glorified loyalty officer.

Not that the caretaker cared.

“I’m saying we shouldn’t waste resources when we have no reason to,” the man retorted evenly.

“And if you were to, say, receive additional medical supplies from an outside source…?”

Ferell’s eyes definitely narrowed now. “Then we would have to see.”

Kallus nodded, casting a glance that was carefully devoid of sympathy at the boy as he left.

* * *

 

Kallus returned to the ICS med bay the next night, sighing inwardly with relief at the sight of Ezra, still trembling but still alive. Searching for the medical droid, the agent caught sight of it and approached.

“Caretaker Ferell said no visitors were to be received in case of contamination,” the droid droned. _Bit of a late warning._

“I have meds. I’d like to administer them to the boy over there.”

“No outside medications are to be received for the safety of the patient.” _More like the safety of Ferell’s job if a kid dies in his care. Not that anyone would notice, anyway._

“Here, run a test on it then, if you don’t believe me.” _And you kriffing better; I spent way too many credits on this for the kid to die because you didn’t even try._

He pulled out a small bag, rummaging inside for the vial before finally feeling it and the other. He felt for the smaller one and removed it, handing it to the droid.

He stepped back as the droid whirred softly, rolling over to the corner. It was an older model, but hopefully the tests would still be accurate. Enough funding went into the ICS the agency should’ve been able to afford a newer model, but Kallus wasn’t surprised.

Glancing back at Ezra, he saw that the boy’s convulsions were slowing; he was only rolling over and pulling at the cuff every thirty seconds instead of every ten.

Remembering what he had read on Corellian fever earlier, Kallus swallowed anxiously. If that droid took much longer….

He approached the bed, watching as the boy shivered feverishly. A sudden thought struck him. How long had the kid been without his parents now? Two cycles at least, maybe two-and-a-half?

He winced in sympathy.

_“Mom?”_

_His mom turned, eyes filled with an expression he didn’t recognize before it faded, replaced with a smile. It was sad._

_“Mom, why are you sad?”_

_The woman laughed, picking him up. “I’m very happy, Ezra, and I’m glad I get to see yo—”_

_A scream, and she was being ripped from him as he was shoved to the ground, someone kicking him in the back as he curled up, hugging his knees to his chest and squeezing his eyes right as—_

Kallus blinked, the sudden onslaught gone as Ezra rolled over and groaned.

Uneasiness flickered in his chest as he studied the boy, glancing back toward the bag he had left across the room. Maybe the second purchase had been worth the insanely high price after all. If his suspicions were right, it was.

The droid’s whirring finally stopped and it rolled back over to him. “A chemical analysis confirmed that this is a medicine, one particularly suited for Corellian fever. I will administer it to the patient now.” _Finally._

He picked up his bag again, slinging it over his shoulder and folding his arms as he watched the droid prepare a syringe.

Ezra was rolling around too much.

Before the droid could ask, Kallus was already at the kid’s bedside, gently restraining him enough that the droid could safely inject the medication. He winced inwardly as Ezra cried out in his restless sleep, though whether it was at another nightmare—or the same one, which was more likely—or the hyponeedle, he couldn’t tell. Releasing the child, he watched as Ezra rolled over again, muttering something fervently into the cot.

“Sir, I am going to have to ask you to vacate the med bay now so there is no further risk of contamination.” Jolted from his thoughts, Kallus nodded vaguely.

“Yes, of- of course.” He exited the med bay, leaving the ICS the same way he had come and heading to his office. A few more reports, and then he could go home for the night.

And hopefully, Ezra would be off of death’s doorstep by morning.

He just wished he wouldn’t ever have to use the second vial.

But with what had just happened, that was becoming more and more inevitable.

**Author's Note:**

> yayyyy for bureaucratic corruption that causes the incorrect “allotment” of resources


End file.
